‘I think I was about nine when I saw my first opera. It was a performance of Tosca and I turned to my mum and said “That’s what I want to do!”’

With the support of her family, Kiandra Howarth went on to fulfil her ambition of becoming an opera singer. The soprano joined the Opera Queensland and Opera Australia young artist programmes in 2011 and 2012 respectively, before moving to Austria for a one-year intensive study programme at the Mozarteum in Salzburg. It was during this year that she found out about The Royal Opera’s Jette Parker Young Artists Programme from a fellow singer. Kiandra successfully auditioned for a place and moved to London in 2013.

‘The Jette Parker Young Artists Programme offers so much - we have coaching on basically anything we want, like languages, stagecraft, and movement,’ explains Kiandra. ‘It’s quite different from programmes I have done before in that as well as performing small roles we also get to understudy some of the major roles. This season I am covering Mimi in La bohème which is being sung by Anna Netrebko. It’s absolutely amazing to be able to watch people like that and learn from them.’

‘A highlight so far was working alongside Karita Mattila in Ariadne auf Naxos; she was Ariadne and I was Echo. Karita is someone I have admired and looked up to since I was in my teens, so to work with her – and to find out that she is this lovely, down to earth person – was amazing.’

‘I love this production because it’s different to any other show I have been involved in at the Royal Opera House. There are a lot of physical things happening on musical cues, so at first it’s quite confusing trying to sing whilst you are also doing all this choreography. Rehearsals are going well though and I am really enjoying working with all the cast.’

‘I recently saw the screening of The Royal Ballet’s Manon and I couldn’t believe how close up the cameras get. You never know where they are and when they are going to be on you. Your reactions have to be very precise and you have to always remember to keep focus and stay in character.’

The soprano is one of five young Australian artists currently on the programme, including four singers and one stage director. After completing the programme next year, she hopes to continue her career in Europe, the place she considers to be the home of opera: ‘There is a good response to opera in Australia but it’s not as big and well attended as it is Europe. I would really love to stay here and perhaps come back to Covent Garden in the future and do a larger role.’

Kiandra isn’t the first young Australian soprano to arrive at Covent Garden with a talent for singing Donizetti and bel canto. Sixty-two years ago, another young Antipodean singer arrived at the Royal Opera House to take to the stage for the first time – her name was Joan Sutherland. Within a few short years, the singer dubbed ‘La Stupenda’ took the world by storm. Time will tell how closely Kiandra’s career mirrors that of the great Sutherland’s but one thing is for sure – with such talent, training and drive behind her, she too has every chance of operatic stardom.

'Kenneth was an enormous film fan so would have been thrilled this was happening,' said the choreographer's wife, Deborah MacMillan.

'The cinema relays mean such a lot to us and it is amazing to see how they have grown,' said Director of The Royal Ballet Kevin O'Hare. 'It is a particular pleasure opening with Manon as it is the 40th anniversary of Kenneth MacMillan's production, and it is a production that has really shaped The Royal Ballet.'

The new Season will feature 11 Royal Opera House productions broadcast to more than 1,400 cinemas in 30 countries worldwide.

Following Manon, the next live relay of the Season will see Verdi’s early tragic opera I due Foscari, simulcast on 27 October. The Royal Opera production stars Plácido Domingo and is conducted by Music Director of The Royal Opera Antonio Pappano.

The Royal Opera House Live Cinema Season 2013/14 opens tonight with a broadcast of Puccini's classic Turandot.

Hot on the heels of the success of the 2012/13 Season, which attracted audiences of up to 40,000, the Live Cinema Season 2013/14 has expanded to more than 1,000 cinemas across 40 countries, and features an unprecedented five Royal Opera and five Royal Ballet productions.

'In the cinema you feel like you have the best seat in the house,' said Director of Music Antonio Pappano ahead of the live screening of Turandot. 'The cinema experience brings you closer: you see the sweat and expression on the faces of some of the finest singers and dancers on stage. I am very much looking forward to this evening, along with the other 9,999 sites sharing in this wonderful experience.'

Following tonight's screening of Turandot, Carlos Acosta's hotly anticipated new production of Don Quixote (in which Carlos and Marianela Nuñez dance the lead roles) will be screened live on 16 October. This is followed on 4 November by Stefan Herheim's new production of Verdi's Les Vêpres siciliennes, featuring a stellar cast that includes Bryan Hymel, Marina Poplavskaya, Erwin Schrott and Michael Volle.

Bryan Hymel will sing the role of Henri for the live cinema relay of Les Vêpres siciliennes. 'When performing in a live cinema relay, it is forever in your mind that it's not just the people in the auditorium you are performing for, but some twenty to thirty thousand people across the globe,' he says. 'The energy of it being live is just a great new experience as you have to be so mindful of the details - the eyes and face. In the cinema, you honestly have the best seat in the house.'

Other productions to be screened live include Christmas favourite The Nutcracker, Stephen Langridge's new production of Parsifal, Peter Wright's Giselle and Kasper Holten's new production of Mozart's Don Giovanni.

Since 2009, when the Royal Opera House broadcast in just 120 sites in 12 countries, ROH Live Cinema has expanded rapidly.

'We've been on a tremendous journey since the Live Cinema Season launched,' continues Antonio Pappano. 'Last season, over 32,000 people watched The Nutcracker: it was the second highest grossing film that night - nestled between The Hobbit and Skyfall'.

Similarly, 35,000 attended the live screening of Nabucco in April 2013, while some 40,000 watched the screenings of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.